Tag Archives: farming

One of the most mystifying things that can happen in your farm is when a plant gets a disease. How did it happen? Will it spread? Will all my plants die? How can I get rid of it? The most important thing to understand about disease prevention is something called the disease triangle (drawing, right). Disease can only happen when …

‘Janam dhoge rach, ok cham alot’. This is a common dholuo term loosely translated to mean ‘People from the lake have no appetite for vegetables’. This is because they have easy access to fish, a tastier delicacy. However, Joseph Odhiambo, a farmer at Usenge Beach in Siaya County has gone against the grain and is running a thriving vegetable farm right …

A lot is being said these days about farmers becoming ‘entrepreneurs’. But what is entrepreneurship? What does it take to be entrepreneurial? How can an entrepreneurial behaviour be created and sustained? How can entrepreneurial skills be developed? How do entrepreneurial farmers respond to the changing farming environment? What strategies do they use? What actions do they take? And how can …

Being a beginner farmer in Kenya is hard! There are hundreds of success stories on farming in the media that really confuses most aspiring farmers to think that they can generate fat incomes overnight. This has led to many people giving up on farming all together. We all hit points when it seems like going on is next to impossible. …

Zimbabwean tycoon Strive Masiyiwa made his money in the mobile telecoms business, but if he were to start all over again, he would bet on agriculture. Speaking at the opening of this year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Zambia’s capital Lusaka, Masiyiwa made a case for the opportunities in the agriculture industry. The Zimbabwean billionaire is chairman of the Alliance for …

You have probably heard that vegetables grown in the city or town are toxic because they ar­­­e grown using human waste as fertilizer. The ones you get at supermarkets are not particularly appealing since they have sometimes been on the shelf for a long time. And the ones grown in greenhouses in Kenya, which use a lot of inorganic chemical …

Company brings machine learning intelligence to rural emerging markets at rapid pace Wefarm , the world’s largest farmer-to-farmer digital network, today announced that it has reached over 300,000 farmers across East Africa, namely in Kenya and Uganda. There are over 180,000 farmers in Kenya using Wefarm at present. Wefarm is a free mobile and online service that enables farmers to …

Farming is an occupation that encompasses a number of different activities. Some farmers in Kenya raise crops for animals to eat, others raise the animals themselves and still others raise crops for people. Many farmers use heavy machinery and spray insecticides or herbicides, while others use organic methods. Farmers need a wide range of skills, including crop production, basic veterinary …

Technology that promises to unleash agricultural productivity is here today. The combination punch of advanced mathematics, automation, advancements in sensor systems and next-generation plant breeding are setting the stage for the next Green Revolution, which is what we need to ensure a sustainable future. Forget about the days when farmers guessed the best time to plant by looking up a …

This is because smallholder farmers have limited financial resources to buy fertilizer. Nitrogen is one of the most essential nutrients needed by plants for their growth, development and reproduction, yet it is depleted in most African soils. Soil depletion over the years has led farmers to open new land to maintain production. This has often led to increased deforestation and …